Overcrowding in schools is one of the biggest problems facing the educational system today. The population of students is growing faster than school districts can build additional buildings to accommodate them. Further, most, if not all, school districts cannot afford to build new schools to accommodate the additional influx of students.
One of the tactics that schools have implemented to try to reduce the effects of overcrowding is to utilize each classroom in a school for student instruction during every hour of the school day. Conventionally, each classroom was used for teacher planning for at least one hour of the school day. Specifically, a teacher is traditionally assigned to a particular classroom from which all of that teacher's instruction is given. During the school day, such teacher has a planning period in which his or her classroom is not being used for instruction but rather for administrative tasks and planning. Schools have gone to using such classrooms during the assigned teacher's planning period for instruction by another teacher, a so-called floating teacher. A floating teacher moves from classroom to classroom and uses the empty classroom during a permanent teacher's planning period. In this situation, both the floating teacher and the students for a particular class meet in an empty classroom during the permanent teacher's planning period. There are also alternative situations wherein several floating teachers may move to a single classroom wherein a particular group of students is housed for several periods.
A problem that floating teachers face is how to store and manage their supplies. It is important that the floating teacher be able to conveniently and easily transport teaching tools and supplies from one classroom to the next. Further, it is important that such floating teacher be able to secure items for transport and storage since he or she does not have a permanent classroom in which to keep his or her items. Another issue that floating teachers face is having a display surface from which to instruct students. In a classroom typically utilized by a permanent teacher, often the blackboard or other display surfaces are being utilized by the permanent teacher. This leaves the floating teacher without a display means to utilize for instruction.
Generally, it is known to provide a mobile workstation for transporting teaching supplies, tools and the like from classroom to classroom. A well known workstation used by teachers that move from classroom to classroom is the conventional audiovideo (AV) cart which may be used as a de facto workstation used.
Another mobile workstation for teachers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,601,861 to Dettmann, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. The Dettmann workstation provides a mobile storage container that is transportable from classroom to classroom. The Dettmann workstation includes a planar teaching surface from which instruction can be delivered, and the Dettmann workstation provides a securable storage space for storage and transport of various types of teaching tools and the like.
Specifically, the Dettmann workstation comprises a bottom shelf panel, opposed side panels, a teaching surface panel and opposed end panels. Casters, which enable workstation mobility, are attached to the four corners of the bottom shelf panel, with two swiveling casters disposed on a first end of the workstation, hereinafter the front end of the workstation, and two fixed casters disposed on a second end of the workstation, hereinafter the back end of the workstation. The workstation also includes a handle that is integrally formed with the teaching surface panel and extends outwardly from the back end of the workstation. An auxiliary teaching surface panel, which is movable between a stored, folded position and an upright, teaching position, is disposed at the front end of the workstation. Additionally, the workstation includes detachable security panels that cover the side panels of the workstation and securely enclose the contents of the workstation. The workstation includes a power strip mounted inside the securable storage space to provide power to teaching tools that need electricity for functioning.
While presently available mobile teaching workstations are available for teachers that move from classroom to classroom, there are beneficial features that such known workstations do not provide. For example, it would be advantageous for mobile teaching workstations to provide an attached panel that may be raised to a display position to aid in instruction. As discussed hereinabove, floating teachers presently either have to use an available board in a classroom, which is often inconvenient because the board is positioned behind the permanent teacher's desk, which is interposed between the mobile teacher workstation and the permanent classroom board, or are unable to use a display board because the permanent display boards in the classroom are filled with content that the permanent teacher has displayed. Additional useful features may include a hand brake for controlling movement of said workstation and an insulated storage compartment that retains the temperature of cold or hot items placed therein.
Another tactic that schools have implemented in battling the issue of overcrowding is to utilize trailers for housing classrooms rather than building permanent buildings. One of the issues with such trailers is that they typically are not equipped to accommodate running water. This is an issue for science courses beginning as low as the middle school level because laboratory work, which requires a sink with running water, is a part of the curriculum.
In this situation, it would be advantageous to provide a mobile teacher workstation having a built-in sink with capability for self-sufficient running water. A floating science teacher can then move from classroom to classroom within the trailer or trailers and provide the running water source as he or she moved.
While unrelated to mobile teaching workstations, it is also noted that tool trolleys for use, for example, by mechanics is well known and disclosed, for example, by Breining U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,649. In this respect, Breining discloses a tool trolley for housing hand tools and other utensils. The trolley includes a frame structure and storage containers that are fitted to and supported by the frame structure.